


What Hope Can There Then Be

by Starjargon



Category: Christian Bible, Original Work
Genre: A Bit Sermony, Allegory, Creative Writing fic, Early Work, Friendship, Gen, Justice, Let the Punishment Fit the Crime, Mercy - Freeform, Ok- more than a bit, Old work, Parallels, Unconditional Love, melodramatic writing, prompt, religious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 17:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2630078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starjargon/pseuds/Starjargon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two men discuss the repercussions of a perfect law and perfect justice. T for character death and mentions of crimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Hope Can There Then Be

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt- Write on the nature of God/morals/mankind. I ended up with a very thinly-veiled allegory/parallel. Written a number of years ago, only minor grammar, flow, and punctuation adjustments made.

"You are just doling out your own form of justice!"

"Someone has to."

"But it's not right!"

"And what is right? That these people go free on technicalities? That their fancy lawyers sell their souls and convince emotional juries that they actually _deserve_ freedom, or life?"

"The law will prevail in the end."

"Like it has so many times before?! No, the law is flawed, but now I'll make sure justice won't be."

"Whose justice? The justice of a flawed, vigilante man who thinks he's somehow qualified to make those decisions? You are no better than those people you punish and kill."

" _I_ don't rip off old ladies. _I_ don't steal or rape anyone. _I_ don't kill innocent people. _I_ don't hurt children and murder babies!"

"You play God! Even He says vengeance belongs to Him. You too will be repaid."

"Unless _I am_ His hand of vengeance."

"You aren't! You think that just because by your standards you are better than these people, you actually _are_ better than them? God sees you as just as flawed as they are, just as guilty, and just as bad. He has no special scales on which to judge you just because you think you are a good man. To Him, you are just as big as a liar, cheater, thief, and murderer as the next guy, and you'll get exact same punishment!"

"So God would send me to hell for sending criminals there? I thought He was supposed to be loving."

"He is _absolute_ love. He is also _absolute_ justice. You complained about the justice systems of man. What about when you face a completely unbiased, perfect, supreme Judge? Where will you measure up then? Do you think He will look at you kindly for hurting all those people?"

"Criminals! Besides, the scales are in my favour; I've done so much more good than bad."

"Does that happen for the "criminals" you're so fond of punishing? Are their good deeds taken into account at _all_ when you pay them a visit? No! Even if they had a lifetime of good deeds and the one bad thing they had done was scam an old couple later in life, those good deeds do not save them from being prosecuted. And neither will yours. Heck, if _our_ courts found out what you were doing, they wouldn't acquit you. God's court definitely wouldn't."

"So you're saying that because I help out the weak and the poor and the families of victims, God would punish me?"

"Wouldn't our imperfect system send you to jail, or the even chair? I'm saying you would go there by your own admission of guilt. If a thief confesses he stole, wouldn't that condemn him? Even if all he did was illegally download a song, doesn't the law prosecute him for that- one tiny little song? And an absolute and perfect law would by definition dole out absolute and perfect justice. Just what crimes have you committed in your life that would condemn you should you stand before a perfect judge? And you _will_ someday."

"So then there's no hope for anyone measured against absolute justice? I'm not a saint, but I've been pretty good, compared to some. But perfect, no- does that mean there's nothing I can do to earn a pardon?"

"That is _exactly_ what it means. You will be found guilty and pay for each and every crime you have ever committed, no matter how large or small. And the punishment you receive will be so much worse than the ones you are so fond of shelling out, Joe."

"So I'm condemned. There's nothing I can do or say anymore than _those_ guys. By those standards, no one would be acquitted or get away scot-free, and we'd all go to jail, then to hell. Even people like _you_ , who don't even jaywalk and give to charities and all that good-deeds stuff!"

"Exactly. Unless someone was perfect- which no one is, we're all going to die criminals and get whatever punishment God prescribed for any who broke His laws. And in this life we get prosecuted and sentenced just the same, even if some do manage to escape punishment."

"So there's no hope, none for me or even _you_ is there, Josh? When we die. You're saying we'll get everything we deserve. What hope is there for us, then?"

Joseph Smith was sentenced to death last year on twenty-two counts of murder. His sentence was to be carried out yesterday afternoon. When he was captured eighteen months ago, he plead guilty to the murders and assaults of dozens of men he referred to only as "criminals." Most would recognize Joseph as the vigilante who went by the name "Vengeance" and who took it upon himself to punish people he saw as unprosecuted felons. He was caught by police in an alleyway after a good Samaritan found one of his victims, still barely alive, who later identified Joseph as the man who assaulted him. He not only surrendered peacefully, but confessed to assaulting the man, a John Black who had recently himself been acquitted for multiple counts of grand theft. Smith later confessed to many more crimes including the aforementioned assault, multiple thefts, several murders, and even several traffic violations, to the bewilderment of the police.

He forewent several appeals and was sentenced to death by electric chair. He was revered by some as "the hand of God," however his blatant lack of respect for human life became apparent in his prosecution, where he remained unapologetic in the defence of his crimes. His case became widely known, not only because of Smith's alter- ego Vengeance, who methodically hunted and disposed of criminals, but also because of his high- profile character witness, Joshua Venia, the famous philanthropist and renowned humanitarian. Venia begged for lenience on Smith's behalf, calling him a very confused and misguided person who genuinely thought he was helping people. However, despite Venia's influence and emotional pleas on Smith's behalf, Smiths un-repentance for those twenty-two murders earned him a relatively speedy conviction and sentence.

The families of several of Smith's victims have organized demonstrations calling for the severest punishment and even condone his death, despite Smith's supporters who favoured his ideals of justice at all costs. The opposing arguments on the matter of Smith's vigilantism contributed even more to the volatility of this case, as well as raised more questions: should men be allowed to take matters into their own hands if they feel the law has failed? Who's responsible for ensuring justice prevails? And does anyone have the right to be the "hand of God," other than God Himself? While the two sides of this issue will debate each other for years to come, the law has firmly sided against any man who takes matters into his own hands.

Though this case was surrounded by controversy from the very beginning, it is not what shall ensure it is distinguished in history. Rather, it shall be the carrying out of the sentence. Smith was a cold-blooded murderer who lived by his own set of laws. By his own admission he destroyed dozens of lives and families who will forever be marked by their grief. And his sentence for these crimes was set and ready to be carried out. But, while he could make no defence strong enough to save himself, another was fighting a unique battle on his behalf.

Yesterday, at 3.02 pm, Joshua Venia was executed in the place of Joseph Smith. Venia, the philanthropist, humanitarian, and distinguished lover and beloved of mankind, arranged a special meeting with the governor, in which he allegedly provided enough evidence to suspend Smith's sentence. Sources say that Venia maintained he was guilty of all the crimes of which Smith was accused, and begged that his sentence be carried out in Smith's stead, immediately. Smith was pardoned and released at the governor's behest, and Venia's new sentence was carried out. Many maintain that Venia was innocent, but the judge has declared justice was served by his death and refuses to hear any new evidence regarding Joseph Smith. Many speculate that Venia fabricated this evidence in order to acquit Smith and to exchange his life for his friend's. The question that has many people bewildered, however, is what exactly could motivate an innocent man to give his life to save a man clearly guilty of horrendous crimes from the punishment he deserves. The only response we have is the one word Venia supposedly uttered before he died.

"Mercy."


End file.
